


Avengers, Asana!

by the_oncoming_drizzle



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Bruce banner does yoga, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Friendship, Gen, Loki & Thor Bro Feels (Marvel), Post-Avengers (2012), Team Bonding, Team as Family, Thor Loves Pop-Tarts (Marvel), Thor is Not Stupid (Marvel), Tony Nicknames Everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29390436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_oncoming_drizzle/pseuds/the_oncoming_drizzle
Summary: Asana - A general term for a pose used in meditation and/or yoga.Yoga isn’t the secret to Bruce’s amazing self-control. That being said, he still likes yoga and uses it to calm down and stay physically fit. And after several years of practice, he’s gotten pretty good at it. As in, good enough to do a full split like it’s nothing.And then Clint finds out.Yeah, trust Ceiling-Vent Clint to make yoga a little less than peaceful.(Sigh.)
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Avengers Team, Bruce Banner & Clint Barton, Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Bruce Banner & Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner & Thor, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Hanumanasana

_Hanumanasana, or “Monkey Pose” - A difficult yoga pose where a practitioner does a full split with one leg forward and one leg back. It recalls a story in the Ramayana where Hanuman, a god depicted as a monkey, took a leap of faith for his friend._

Bruce released a slow breath and brought his leg and arms down from the tree pose. It was about 7:37 in the morning, and he was alone in the penthouse gym. He wasn’t living on the run anymore ( _Not even close_ ), but some habits—like morning yoga and meditation—died hard.

It wasn’t just to help him stay calm and centered anymore. It felt good, and he liked doing it. He didn’t need essential oils or nature sounds or incense or any of the stuff Tony teased him about. Just a quiet room with enough space for a sun salutation and enough privacy for some deep breathing.

...and with Tony’s penchant for poking and zapping him when he least expected it (and that one memorable time with the water pistol), Bruce needed at least one hour of serenity in the day.

He normally did his yoga routine in his apartment, but today, he’d felt like changing things a little. (Which was odd for him, but also kind of a nice feeling.) And no one else had been in the gym, which made it pretty much perfect.

A few poses later, Bruce was doing a headstand when he heard something above him.

He frowned. The floors in Stark Tower were pretty good. Tony probably had a really good acoustician on board when he designed the building, because even in the gym, Bruce had never heard noise from the floors above.

 _So... what made_ **_that_ ** _noise?_

He swallowed and his legs wobbled a bit. Yoga wasn’t the only habit that died hard; Bruce was still hyper-aware of random little noises that could mean someone was coming after him.

_Maybe I should have just stayed in my room..._

Still upside down, Bruce steadied himself and took another deep breath.

In.

Out.

_I’m safe here. I’m safe._

In the minute that followed, there were no more noises, so Bruce shrugged it off.

After Bruce finished his headstand, he decided to shake things up a bit more and do a full split, something he usually saved for the end of his yoga routine.

_Wow, really living on the wild side, Banner. Yoga in the gym and now doing the splits early?_

Bruce smiled to himself and slowly dropped into a split with another deep breath.

“WHAT THE HECK?!!!” someone shouted, with a loud bang in the middle of the sentence.

Bruce jumped and felt his thighs protest. From above him, he could hear what sounded like muffled cursing and then a shuffling noise.

Bruce steadied himself and looked up, recognizing the voice but confused by the source.

“...Clint?!”

The grate in the ceiling vent fell open and Clint Barton dropped out of it with angry grace, rubbing the back of his head.

“How in _heck_ are you so flexible?!” Clint exclaimed, gesturing furiously as he stood up.

Bruce swallowed. “Uhh…”

“How the… GYAH!!!”

Clint punctuated his sentence by throwing both arms into the air. Then he stormed out of the room, leaving Bruce—still in the splits—alone and bewildered. As Clint slammed the door after him, Bruce looked up again.

_Has that ceiling vent always been there?_

-0-O-0-

A little over 30 minutes later, Bruce had changed into his regular clothes and was walking into the communal kitchen to get some breakfast. He immediately saw that Clint was in there, deep in a rant to Tony.

“I mean, how the heck is that even possible?!” Clint was saying.

“Look, Cupid, pics or it didn’t happen,” Tony replied, with that infuriatingly calm expression that was always on his face when he knew he was being irritating.

It had been less than two seconds since he walked in, and Bruce already had a sense that he should go make tea somewhere else. He started to back up, but bumped into someone.

“Oh, hey, Dr. Banner,” Steve said, as Bruce jumped a bit and muttered an automatic apology. Bruce found his eyes flicking towards Tony, knowing that his “billionaire-genius-bestie” (Tony’s words, not his) would have heard him and wasn’t going to just let him slip away quietly.

Tony’s eyes were indeed trained on Bruce, just as he’d expected. Tony finished his sip of green smoothie and nodded at him.

“Green Bean.”

Bruce swallowed, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this now.

“Uhh…” he said. _Wow, very articulate this morning, Bruce._

Tony gestured at Clint as he put his smoothie down. “Robin Hood here says you were doing a full split this morning.”

 _Oh, you don’t have to be a guy with 7 PhD’s to see where_ **_this_ ** _is going…_

“Yeah,” Bruce said, wringing his hands.

“You can do that?” Steve asked, sounding surprised and delighted.

Bruce swallowed again. “Yeah.”

“What’s going on?” Thor asked, walking in from the opposite door and immediately heading for one of the cabinets.

“Banner’s basically a contortionist and he’s never told anyone,” Clint said, jabbing a finger in Bruce’s direction.

Thor frowned as he opened a box of Pop Tarts. “A what?”

“Uhh... it’s not contortionism,” Bruce protested quietly, wringing his hands some more. “I’m not that flexi—”

“Dude, I saw you doing the freaking splits!!” Clint said, gesturing crazily again.

“Is a contortionist some kind of wizard?” Thor asked.

“Nah, it’s a circus act where someone basically ties themselves in knots because they’re so dang flexible,” Tony replied.

“Oh, okay,” Thor said, with a shrug.

_Huh. I guess they have contortionists on Asgard?_

“Wait, what’s happening?” Natasha asked, walking in from the same direction Thor had.

Bruce facepalmed.

“Look, I’m not a contortionist, it’s _yoga!!”_ he exclaimed, before anyone else could ask. “I don’t understand why it has to be such a big deal! Seriously, I turn into a giant green monster when I’m angry and _this_ is what surprises everyone?!”

Everyone stopped talking.

 _Oh, wow. Was I actually that loud?_ Bruce felt embarrassed and apologetic, but also a little proud of himself. Usually, it took him threatening to turn into the Other Guy to shut people up.

Tony (of course) was the first to break the silence.

“Okay, for the record, I didn’t actually know you do yoga, I just guessed.” He took another sip of his smoothie.

Then he smirked as he put the drink back down.

“I think the real issue is that Cupid’s mad because you’re a science geek and therefore you shouldn’t be able to outclass him in something physical.”

Clint had adopted a neutral poker face, but there was still a glint in his eye that practically screamed “Tony’s right, Tony’s right!”

None of Bruce’s IQ points knew what to say to that. _What is it about my brain that makes it go blank at times like this?_

“Wha… I… He crawls around in the vents!” Bruce protested, pointing at Clint. Anything to draw the attention away from himself.

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, I already knew that. Who do you think put the extra vents in?”

_Curse you, Stark._

Tony stood up and stode around the kitchen island to Bruce. He slung an arm around Bruce’s shoulder.

“So… When do we get to see you show off your mad skills, Yogi Bear?” Tony asked, with an infuriating grin.

“Mmf…” Thor swallowed the Pop Tart in his mouth. “I wish to see this “yoga” as well.”

Steve and Natasha both nodded and murmured agreement.

Oh, _this_ was what Bruce had been dreading. Now that they all knew he did yoga, of course they wanted to _see_ him do yoga.

And Bruce had never enjoyed performing.

_I should never have left my room._

Bruce immediately began to run through his options.

_Be really clumsy while I do it and hope everyone just thinks I’m an uncoordinated nerd?_

_Not likely to work. They’ll know I’m faking, and Clint won’t let it go._

_Do yoga like I would normally do and hope everyone leaves me alone after that?_

_...Tony will never leave me alone._

_Hide in my room and have JARVIS lock the door?_

_Tony will override the lock._

_...Move back to Brazil?_

Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

_I have officially lost my mind and it’s probably lurking somewhere in Tony’s coffee maker._

Bruce decided to choose the path of least embarrassment and just show them what he could do.

_Worst case scenario, they tease me a bit. Tony already teases me about plenty of stuff. What’s one more thing? ...Maybe it’ll even be a bonding moment._

“...Fine,” Bruce grumbled, scrubbing a hand across his face. “I’ll show you guys. Just let me grab my sweatpants.”

“That’s my science bro!” Tony said, slapping him on the shoulder.

-0-O-0-

“Seriously! How the heck do you do that?!” Tony exclaimed, poking Bruce in the foot and making him twitch.

Bruce carefully dropped out of his headstand, feeling relieved when his feet touched the lounge carpet (because that meant they were now out of Tony’s immediate reach). He straightened up and shrugged.

“Practice,” he said. “Living on the run, uh... you’d be surprised how much spare time I had.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And, y’know… Having a hobby helps my mood.”

“Makes sense,” Tony said with a shrug. Then he waved a hand. “Okay, enough chit-chat, show me the splits.”

Bruce felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he saw Steve rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, he’s doing this just for you, Tony,” Steve muttered.

“Of course he is,” Tony muttered back. “He’s my science bro. You should’ve called dibs before I was born, Old Man.”

Bruce couldn’t help a small huff of laughter as he carefully dropped into the splits. Before the Avengers, people talking about him while he was present had always been a cause for fear. But coming from these guys… It was just banter. It was safe. It even felt good.

He was still avoiding making eye contact with anyone though.

Once he was completely in the splits, Bruce heard a low whistle.

“Holy crap, you weren’t kidding, Cupid,” Tony said.

Bruce looked up, suddenly curious.

Tony’s eyes were wide, and he looked genuinely surprised.

Bruce found himself looking at the others one by one, a tiny part of him wanting to see their reactions too.

Steve’s eyes were wide and the corners of his mouth were slightly quirked upward.

Natasha, arms folded, shared Steve’s expression.

Thor’s mouth was hanging open, but he was still smiling.

Clint still had his poker face on, but his eyes had gone a bit wider.

Oddly enough, Thor was the first to break the silence this time.

“Yoga seems a worthy pursuit,” he said. “Would you consider teaching me, Dr. Banner?”

Bruce’s eyes widened, and he felt his small smile go back into hiding.

“You want me to… Thor, you can bench-press a car,” Bruce said.

Thor shrugged. “Well, yes, but I can’t do _that_ ,” he said, gesturing at Bruce’s current position. “And “bench-pressing,” as you call it, has nothing to do with the flexibility so obviously required for this yoga. I like learning new skills, and I would be honored if you would teach me.”

Bruce swallowed. “Uhh… sure. Okay.”

“Not to put you on the spot, Dr. Banner, but maybe you could teach all of us?” Steve asked.

“Uhh…”

Bruce felt himself blushing. _Oh, great. Now I’m inarticulate_ **_and_ ** _pink._

He swallowed.

His mouth hung open for a second as he tried to think of a response.

“...sure,” he said.

_On a scale of 1 to nuclear disaster, how bad have I just doomed myself?_

Tony clapped his hands.

“Okay, great! Team bonding via yoga tomorrow night at 7!” he said. “You guys down?”

There were scattered murmurs of affirmation.

_...Yep, nuclear disaster._


	2. Surya Namaskar

_Surya Namaskar, or “Sun Salutation” - A sequence of yoga poses meant for greeting a new day._

Bruce jerked awake, breathing hard. After a panicked look around his room, he sank back into his pillow, put a hand on his chest, and forced himself to focus on his breathing. In the back of his mind, the Hulk growled, but didn’t try to shove his way to the surface.

Nightmares died hard too.

Bruce felt his heart rate drop back to a manageable level, and Hulk’s growling dialed down to an irritated grumble.

Once he felt a bit better, Bruce rolled onto his side and squinted at the clock.

_3 AM. (Sigh.) Great._

Bruce sat up and reached for his glasses. He knew he would be hard-pressed to actually fall asleep again, so there wasn’t much point in staying in bed.

_Might as well go and make some tea._

Bruce slid his glasses into place, grabbed his StarkTech tablet, and began the trek to the communal kitchen.

He was almost there when he heard a loud “thunk” and then a cry of pain.

No matter what the last several years of his life had been like, Bruce was not the kind of person to ignore someone who might be hurt. He didn’t even think about it before he was running to the kitchen.

He could hear muffled groans of cursing.

_Not unconscious, so probably not a concussion, but shouldn’t rule that out. Not a female voice, so not Natasha. Broken bones unlikely. Didn’t hear any glass breaking. Someone sleepwalking? Tony ran into the fridge again? Too loud for hip-checking the island. Might need—_

Bruce stopped just inside the door of the kitchen. The only light came from the fixture over the stove, but Bruce could still see. And what he saw was...

“...Clint?!”

The man in question scowled back at him from where he was lying on the floor by the kitchen island, half-rolled onto his back and rubbing his head.

Bruce shoved his surprise away and hurried forward to help Clint up and make sure he was okay. From the way he was positioned and the way he was rubbing at his head, Bruce guessed he had somehow fallen and whacked the back of his head on one of the barstools under the island. 

“What happened?” Bruce asked.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Clint said, starting to push himself up before Bruce could help.

Bruce frowned and ghosted a hand over Clint’s shoulder as he knelt down.

“Clint, it’s 3 AM and I just found you on the kitchen floor. Dunno about you, but that doesn’t exactly scream “fine” to me.”

Clint raised an eyebrow.

“Anyone ever told you that you’re a lot sassier before 7 AM?” he asked.

_Yeah, and you’re about the same as always._

Bruce rolled his eyes and sighed.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked.

“Seventeen and a half. Can I get up now?”

Bruce stood up and waved a hand. “Be my guest. But if you tip over, we’re going down to medical and I’m doing a full concussion check.”

“Relax, I’ve hit my head way harder than that before,” Clint said, waving a hand dismissively as he stood.

_Yeah, I bet._

“That’s not exactly a good thing,” Bruce muttered. “Would it be too much to ask what the heck you were doing to hit your head on a barstool at this hour?”

Clint had his back to Bruce now, but even in the dim light, Bruce saw him stiffen, his grip tightening around the spatula he was now holding.

_Come on, diffuse the situation._

_Oh, that’s rich. The guy with the worst anger management issues on the planet wants to diffuse a situation._

_Shut up._

“You can tell me,” Bruce said, trying to sound kinder. “If it was stupid, don’t worry, I won’t tell Tony or Steve.” Bruce chuckled softly. “No promises about Nat, though.”

Some of the tension left Clint’s back. He turned back to face Bruce.

“I was trying to do the splits, okay?” Clint grumbled quietly.

_Wait, what?_

Bruce’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

Clint waved his hands (and the spatula) agitatedly.

“I wanted to see if I was flexible enough to maybe do the splits like you. ...but I’m not. And I’m an idiot because I tried doing yoga on a tile floor while I was wearing socks.”

 _Yeah, that_ **_is_ ** _pretty idiotic._

“I lost my balance and hit my head while I was trying to not tear all my thigh muscles,” Clint finished. He was avoiding eye contact.

Bruce swallowed.

“Uh… Dumb question, but are you okay?” Bruce asked.

Clint sighed through his nose.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine, I guess. It’s just… it’s hard sometimes, y’know? I’m literally a bow and arrow in a gun fight. I’ve worked so hard to be the best at what I do, but there’s always something out of my reach.”

_Uhh… what?_

Bruce swallowed again.

“Uhh… I meant are you _physically_ okay,” he said.

Clint chuckled quietly. “Sorry. My mouth runs more when I’m tired. And you just look like a therapist.”

Bruce looked down at the sweatpants and t-shirt he was wearing.

_Still not ruling out a concussion._

“What part of _this_ looks like a therapist?” he asked, gesturing at his whole body.

Clint laughed. “It’s just the vibe you give off.”

Bruce shook his head and smiled. “I’d make a terrible therapist.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. And you’d be better than Stark at it by a long shot.”

Bruce snorted, trying to keep himself from laughing too loudly.

“Sorry about earlier… y’know, yesterday with the whole calling you out on the splits thing,” Clint said. “I, uh…”

Even in the dim light, Bruce was pretty sure Clint was pink with embarrassment.

“I’ve just always wished I was more flexible,” Clint continued. “I was in the circus for awhile, so you’d think I would be. But I’m not.”

“...You’re one of the greatest marksmen in the world and you’re jealous of _me_ because I can do the splits?”

Clint snorted. “Yeah, I know, it sounds really stupid when I say it out loud.”

 _...yeah, that does sound pretty stupid. Why would anyone be jealous of_ **_me_ ** _?_

The two men stood in silence for a bit.

And then Bruce smiled.

“Well, you’re right about one thing,” he said.

Clint raised an eyebrow.

“Your mouth does run more when you’re tired,” Bruce said.

Clint grinned goofily.

“So, uh… seeing as you’re up, you want some pancakes?” Clint gestured with the spatula at the plate of pancakes on the counter.

Bruce raised an eyebrow, suddenly noticing the bowl with a dribble of batter running down its side on the counter and the griddle on the stove.

“Clint, it’s 3 in the morning. Why were you making pancakes?”

“Because I’ve lost control of my life.”

Clint suddenly gave a snort of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Bruce asked.

Clint waved a hand and shook his head, still shaking slightly with laughter. “I just feel like I’ve seen this in a cartoon somewhere. And everything’s funnier at 3 AM.” He met Bruce’s eyes again. “Question still stands. Do you want some pancakes?”

Bruce felt his mouth tugging into a smile.

“Yeah… yeah, pancakes sound good. Thanks.”

Clint stacked a few pancakes on a plate and handed it to Bruce, who took it and smiled.

“You said you’re the bow and arrow in a gun fight,” Bruce murmured. “…I guess I’m the water gun then.”

Clint snickered.

“A water gun with a mega-firehose backing him up,” he replied, with a smile.

Once they had gotten about halfway through their pancakes (well, _Clint_ was halfway through) Bruce cleared his throat.

“Hey, uh… if you wanted, I could help you work on your flexibility,” he said.

Clint stared at him, cheeks bulging with pancake.

“I-I mean… I’m no expert, but I know some stretches that can really help if you do them consistently,” Bruce said. “That is, uh… if you want.”

Clint swallowed his mouthful of pancake.

“You’re serious?” he asked.

Bruce nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly.

Clint suddenly smiled.

“Yeah, man. That sounds great.”

For some reason, Bruce couldn’t keep from smiling in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Stu, it's four o'clock in the morning. Why on earth are you making chocolate pudding?"  
> "Because I've lost control of my life."
> 
> (Rugrats, "Angelica Breaks a Leg," November 7, 1993)


	3. Virasana

_ Virasana or “Hero Pose” - A kneeling meditative pose. Even heroes need time to calm down. _

“How the actual he—”

“Language!”

_ “—Heck,” _ Tony said, glaring at Steve, “do you do this without—WHOA!!!”

Bruce winced as Tony wobbled wildly and dropped his pose to steady himself.

“Oh, come on, it’s not  _ that _ hard, Stark,” Natasha said with a smirk, easily holding the dancer pose they were all doing.

_ Okay, “doing” is a strong word. _

Natasha was the only one other than Bruce who could do the full pose. The others were all in varying levels of the pose, and Tony (of course) was trying to do it on the same level as Natasha while wobbling more than Thor.

“We can try something easier if you want,” Bruce said, carefully dropping his pose.

“Hey, Tin Man asked for something harder than a tree pose,” Clint said. “Maybe he should just be more careful what he wishes for.”

“Don’t lecture me about wishes, Jiminy Cricket,” Tony shot back.

“Then stop falling over, Figaro.”

Bruce glanced at Steve, who was obviously trying not to laugh, and Bruce couldn’t help but smile too.

_ Another reference he understands. _

The day had simultaneously dragged and rushed by after Bruce’s little pancake-fueled 3 AM heart-to-heart with Clint. Five-thirty PM had finally rolled around, Indian food from Tony’s favorite place had been delivered (“Trying to stay on theme, Bean Sprout, don’t give me that look!”), and everyone had shown up to the lounge, wearing exercise clothes.

And—after eating and then spending about an hour laughing at stupid YouTube videos—now they were in a circle doing yoga.

A physicist, a Norse god, a billionaire, two super-spies, and Captain America were doing yoga in the penthouse lounge of Stark Tower. It sounded like the set-up of a bad joke.

_ How the heck did I get mixed up with this? _

The most surprising part was that the “team yoga session” was going reasonably well. Tony was terrible at it and kept up a more-or-less steady stream of quips and jokes, but he hadn’t given up. Thor wasn’t much better at it, but unlike Tony, he really seemed to be trying to learn it (there was a very intense look of concentration on his face). Steve was doing okay, as was Clint. And Natasha, well… Natasha looked like  _ she _ should be the one teaching everyone yoga.

“How about we try a warrior pose sequence?” Bruce suggested.

_ Maybe Tony will be better at this if he keeps both feet on the floor… _

There were murmured affirmations all around.

“Okay, then… First thing we need to do is get into the downward-facing dog pose…”

The more he did it, the more Bruce found that it was surprisingly easy to give verbal instructions to his teammates.

And he was also finding that this mess of team was surprisingly good at listening.

Even more surprising was they were willing—and even happy—to listen to  _ him. _

He slowly led them through downward dog, warrior I, warrior II, and reverse warrior, including small reminders like, “Tony, try putting more weight on your front knee,” and, “Thor… Thor, you have to  _ breathe _ .”

Finally, they made it to the triangle pose.

“Okay… now bend forward, touching the ground with your left hand as close to your front foot as you can... raise your right arm… try to keep it straight… and hold that pose. Deep breath in… Deep breath out.”

Tony wobbled a little, but didn’t fall or quip.

Natasha looked like a pro.

Steve exhaled a bit more harshly, probably not used to stretching this way.

Thor was gritting his teeth ( _ He’s not breathing, is he? _ ) but stayed stubbornly in the pose.

Clint was doing pretty well.

“Okay. Great,” Bruce said, straightening back up. “Now we do all that again for the other side.”

Towards the end of the “team yoga session,” Bruce decided to calm things down with one last yoga pose and a minute or two of meditation-breathing.

_ If I’ve learned anything tonight, it’s that Tony  _ **_does_ ** _ have the ability to sit still for at least one minute. _

“Okay. This last one can be a bit tricky,” Bruce said. “Seriously, it’s harder than it looks, so if you can’t do it, just sit normally so you don’t hurt yourself.”

Bruce knelt with his knees together and his feet apart, so that his butt was touching the floor.

“Make sure to go into this pose slowly,” he said.

Natasha easily copied Bruce’s pose, and she smirked at Clint, who was grimacing and shooting her dirty looks as he tried to do the pose.

“What’s this one called?” Tony asked, doing about the same thing as Clint before giving up and just sitting cross-legged like Steve and Thor.

“Hero pose,” Bruce said.

Tony snorted.

“Seriously?” he asked.

Bruce shrugged. “Yep.”

“Yeah, _ this _ is the pose I want to be in when I’m facing down alien invaders,” Tony muttered. But then he smiled at Bruce, and Bruce shook his head and smiled back.

“Okay, now we’re just going to relax and breathe for a few minutes to finish up,” Bruce said. “You can close your eyes, if you want. Just relax and focus on your breathing.”

It was blissfully quiet for about one minute.

And then it wasn’t.

“Sir, Mr. Hogan is trying to reach you,” JARVIS said. Despite the call obviously being for Tony, Bruce opened his eyes. Everyone else had too. Except Tony.

“JARVIS, trying to meditate here,” Tony said. “If it’s about that Tokyo shipment, it can wait.”

_ Only Tony could use yoga to be infuriating... _

“Sir, I’m afraid he is insistent.”

“Tell him to go be insistent somewhere else. I’m busy.”

_ “Sir.” _

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood up. “It’s always something… Be right back guys. Namaste.”

“Namaste right here,” Clint said, with a smirk.

Tony rolled his eyes, picked his phone up from the bar, and left the room to answer it.

“Five bucks says it’s AIM,” Clint sing-songed quietly.

“Pfft. I’d be more surprised if it’s not,” Steve murmured.

“Yeah, seriously,” Natasha agreed.

Thor nodded. “Those beekeepers are quite a nuisance.”

Bruce shook his head and smiled, while inwardly thinking,  _ Oh, good grief, I hope it’s not AIM again... _

After a few minutes, Tony came back. He looked annoyed.

“Happy’s got intel that there’s been a security breach at one of my warehouses. I mean, normally, I’d just let  _ him _ handle it because, y’know, that’s his  _ job, _ but he’s worried that it’s AIM again. I’m gonna suit up and go check it out. You guys wanna come with?”

Everyone looked at Bruce.

He shrugged.

“Yeah, we’re done,” he said.

Everyone looked back at Tony and murmured affirmatives.

“You coming, Bruce?” Clint asked.

_ Is this going to be dangerous? _

_ What’s the likelihood of a Code Green? _

_ How attached am I to this particular shirt? _

_...Oh, what the heck. _

“Yeah… Yeah, I’ll come. Team-bonding night, right?” he replied.

Clint grinned and slapped him on the shoulder as they all left the lounge.

_ You are a madman, Banner. _


	4. Utkatasana

_ Utkatasana or “Lightning Pose” - The straight arms and bent knees of this pose resemble the shape of a bolt of lightning. This pose requires strength and endurance. _

“Okay… now bend your knees… keep your arms straight… and remember to breathe, Thor. Yoga’s just as much about breathing as it is about flexibility.”

Thor puffed out his cheeks and exhaled with a lot more effort than was probably necessary.

_ But hey, at least he’s breathing now, right? _

It was Monday morning, the week after their team yoga session and the call about AIM, which had turned up nothing particularly useful because nothing had been stolen (and that was weird, but Happy was looking into it). Tony had a full day of meetings to attend (“Pepper says I have to go.”), and Steve, Clint, and Natasha had been called out on a SHIELD assignment (“Hopefully a quick one,” Clint had said). That meant that Bruce and Thor were the only ones in the penthouse that day.

That also meant that, for once, Bruce had a commitment to honor just like everyone else did. Thor had asked Bruce to teach him yoga. So, Bruce was in the gym teaching him. It was a pretty simple arrangement, really.

_ Yeah, the only really weird part is that I’m teaching yoga to the Norse god of thunder. _

They finished the lighting pose, and Bruce decided that it would be okay to take a break. So, they both sat down cross-legged on the floor, facing each other.

Thor chugged an entire water bottle, crushed it, and threw it into the trash can.

“Hey, Thor? …If you don’t mind me asking… why did you want to learn yoga?” Bruce asked.

Thor’s arm was still stretched out from throwing the water bottle. He looked back at Bruce and took a deep breath.

“The short answer is that I thought it looked interesting,” he replied, turning back to fully face Bruce.

“And the long answer?”

“It is… long,” Thor said.

Bruce shrugged. “I don’t have anywhere to be.”

Thor nodded and smiled, but his smile was somewhat…  _ Sad? Wistful? Introspective? _ Bruce wasn’t entirely sure.

“You’ll recall that I was banished from my home for a time,” Thor said. “During that time, I came to love this world. Perhaps I was just making the best of things then, but even now, the things of this world amaze me.”

Bruce smiled.  _ I know that feeling. _

Thor swallowed. “Before my banishment, I was… I believe the Midgardian term is ‘an entitled brat.’”

Bruce frowned and raised his eyebrows.

“Where’d you pick that term up?” he asked.

Thor shrugged. “Stark once used it to describe how he was before he became the Iron Man. We were having a discussion over Pop-Tarts.”

“Oh.”

_ Still can’t get over the fact that a Norse-god-alien guy likes Pop-Tarts. _

Thor nodded.

“Being sent to Midgard… Earth… I was forced to learn humility. To become worthy of my power.”

Bruce glanced at Mjolnir, which was sitting a few feet from Thor’s side. Thor had explained before that only someone worthy of the hammer could lift it, but he had never been quite this solemn about it.

“Oh.”

_ Yes, very good response to that profound statement, Banner. _

Thor nodded.

“One day, I will become king of Asgard. And… I want to be a  _ good _ king,” he said. “I want to be someone my father and mother would be proud of. I am ashamed of what I used to be… and I want to repair the damage I have done through my past arrogance.”

Thor was smiling again, a kind of self-deprecating smile.

“My banishment taught me more in a matter of days than I learned from my father’s court in several centuries. I am trying to continue improving myself by learning the ways of others, particularly those I have come to admire.” Thor’s smile widened. “I admire the Hulk for his ferocity and strength in battle. But I also admire you, Dr. Banner.”

_ You admire  _ **_me_ ** _?! _

“Uhh… not to undermine your whole learning-thing, but… why?” Bruce asked.

Thor looked at him like he was missing an obvious answer.

“Because you’re brilliant! You knew how to track the Tesseract when no one else did! You can actually understand what Stark is talking about! And you can do things like yoga!” Thor grinned.

And then his grin dialed down to barely a smile.

“I… realize this may not be a comparison you enjoy, but… you remind me of Loki. How he used to be… before.”

“Whoa, whoa, back up,  _ Loki?!” _ Bruce exclaimed.

And then Bruce froze. Thor had been a bit sensitive about Loki as long as Bruce had known him. Despite all that his brother had done, Thor always got defensive whenever someone brought up how insane Loki was. None of the Avengers referenced Loki anymore, except on the rare occasions Thor felt like telling a story about the days when he and Loki fought side-by-side for Asgard. And when he finished a story, there would usually be a sad, nostalgic expression on his face.

Having your brother go nuts and try to take over an entire planet? And also having your brother stab you? That couldn’t be easy to deal with.

Bruce  _ knew _ how messed up families could be. Having someone kick salt in your wound, no matter how unintentionally, always hurt.

He swallowed.

“Uhh… sorry, if I…”

Thor shook his head and held up a hand.

“No, it’s all right. I understand. He’s my brother, but that does not excuse what he did.”

Thor took a deep breath and looked at the ground.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but Loki was not always… evil. When we were younger, he was my best friend.” Thor smiled and gave a soft, sad chuckle. “The two of us… We were a mess. We got into so much trouble together… But we did a lot of good for Asgard as we grew, or at least I hope we did.”

Thor’s smile became brighter.

“As we got older, Loki spent much of his time studying. He was a great diplomat, and he understood magic in a way that I’ve never had the patience to. He would often stay on the sidelines reading while I learned to fight, but if I needed him, I could count on his help. Even when I was being stupid and he knew it would go wrong, he was there for me.”

Thor finally looked Bruce in the eye.

“I see many of the same qualities in you. And those are qualities I would like to develop in myself.”

Bruce swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Uh… thanks.”

There was a beat of silence.

“So… yoga fits into this because…?” Bruce waved a hand vaguely.

Thor grinned.

“It never hurts to learn new skills,” he said.

Bruce grinned right back.

“Yeah, guess not… So… want to try a headstand just for the heck of it?”

Thor’s eyes widened.

“Odin’s beard,  _ yes.” _


End file.
